It is a good and important read. I'm disappointed they didn't plug the website or the organization more, not for lack of it being plugged by you, Curtis, your wife, me and other women here who were interviewed, but the story is out there. I'm not an Oprah fanatic, but I know many who are so this will reach a great number of people - for that I'm grateful.

I just ran across this a couple days ago. Curtis, was this just recently published in O magazine and on the web?

Oprah is really doing some good work raising awareness of child sexual abuse and it's long term effects. Monday her show did a big program on internet child predators and related web sites and called for support of the PROTECT Our Children Act, US Senate Bill 1738.

Andy, I agree that society at large is grossly unaware and uneducated about the problem at the home/neighborhood level, however, predators on the internet are very, very real.

I did an experiment myself because I was curious since my daughter was so enmeshed in MySpace. It was shortly before AOL, MySpace, FaceBook and other social networking sites were persuaded to cooperate with Attorneys General around the country. I created a page with the name of LonelyGirl15. There was nothing more than a one sentence profile for this fictitious character, something very innocent about needing a friend. Then I waited. By the time 30 days had gone by, I had 55 messages. I answered none and deleted all. I actually forgot about this bogus profile until the news that the social networking sites agreed to do some housecleaning at the request of the Attorneys General. At that point I went back to the profile only to find that the profiles of EVERY SINGLE person who had sent LonelyGirl15 a message (there were at least 150) had been removed by MySpace. I could only reach one conclusion - that the people who responded to this fictitious young girl were on sex offender lists so MySpace gave them the boot.

My fictitious profile no longer exists, so it was a short experiment, but a very telling one I think.

Oprah does do alot for children's causes in all forms and she uses her show to highlight sexual abuse no matter where it's found. She has a good heart, deep pockets and a world-wide audience - she uses all of it, but at the end of the day, for all of her power, she is still only one person.

Fact is, there's pedophiles everywhere -- on the street, at the grocery store, on the net, everywhere -- and making the public believe/feel that it's mostly an internet problem is hurting society, I feel. It makes us complacent and feel safe in our own little bubble because, hey, they're just "those freaks on the 'net."

Maybe I'm mistaken but I don't remember any member here being a victim of an internet perp.

I know I didn't meet my dad on the net.

*shrug*

_________________________
Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words. -- Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)

I remember her from her days as a reporter here in Baltimore. She was no good then and was quickly given the heave ho from WJZ-TV. She has not improved over the years since!

Maybe she does "get it", but she should become a serious journalist and report the real news. The fact that abuse happens more in person than on the net. If not, maybe she should bow out in favour of real news reporters like she was fired by here in B'more.

Just my two cents,

Brian

_________________________
"When we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead, or alive, we will all come home together." LTG Hal Moore, Jr., USA (Ret.)

I don't want to argue or criticise here, or make Oprah out to be my heroine. However, I did a search on oprah.com using "sexual abuse" which returns these results (below) showing quite a range of CSA: a lot more facets of sexual abuse than internet predators. Males abused, relationship effects much later, recovery, males abused by females-mothers, teachers and the double standard there, incest/abuse by parents and relatives,

I don't watch the show nor read the magazine, so I'd just like to get a sense of her place promoting awareness of CSA issues. While the points made here are true generally (stranger danger, mass media fluffyness) I think Oprah is covering the bases in a very helpful way. Not perfect, but progress is usually messy. I ran across this:

Quote:

In the scholarly text Freaks Talk Back,[19] Yale sociology professor Joshua Gamson credits the tabloid talk show genre with providing much needed high impact media visibility for gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgender people and doing more to make them mainstream and socially acceptable than any other development of the 20th century. In the book's editorial review Michael Bronski wrote "In the recent past, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered people had almost no presence on television. With the invention and propagation of tabloid talk shows such as Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, Oprah, and Geraldo, people outside the sexual mainstream now appear in living rooms across America almost every day of the week."

Now don't get set off by this... We aren't freaks and neither are gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, and transgender people. But this gives credence to the notion that even tabloid TV treatments of CSA are progress. Perhaps so, though we will all likely find it somewhat lacking.

Seach results if you're still reading:

Overcoming Sexual AbuseOprah & Friends host Gayle King talks with journalist and author Dominic Carter about his story of childhood sexual abuse.

Sexually Abused Men - Is Your Husband One of Them?For the one out of six American men who were sexually abused as children, the results are always present, deeply corrosive, and wildly contagious. David France talks to a few brave men and the women who married them.

From Their Own Online World, Pedophiles Extend Their ReachNew York Times investigative reporter Kurt Eichenwald explores the world of online predators.

Was a Man in Your Life Abused?Janice Palm, executive director of Shepherd's Counseling Services in Seattle, describes the pattern of behavior to watch out for.

Teri Hatcher Speaks OutIn a recent interview with 'Vanity Fair,' Teri revealed a painful secret that has tormented her for years.

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